Doctor Doctor
by sudoku
Summary: Stephen was pretty sure The Avengers were out to get him. So he felt pretty jumpy whenever any of them approached. Sure, he could open a portal to hide from them but this was getting old after the 67th times. Christine said he was being paranoid. But if his fear was well-founded, he wasn't being paranoid. Part 4 of "The Adventures of Stephen Strange and His Super Awesome Cloak."
1. Paranoia or Legit?

-Unbetaed and a non native speaker so if you see any mistakes please let me know.  
- **Warning:** some very mild sexual jokes and inaccurate descriptions of illness and medicine.

* * *

Stephen was pretty sure The Avengers were out to get him. So he felt pretty jumpy whenever any of them approached. Sure, he could open a portal to hide from them but this was getting old after the 67th times. (Nope, he didn't keep counts or anything.) He couldn't hide from them all the time. After all, the New York Sanctum wouldn't run itself. This world wouldn't protect itself from interdimensional threats either.

Christine said he was being paranoid. But if his fear was well-founded, he wasn't being paranoid.

* * *

It started one late afternoon seven weeks ago after a super boring Avengers' meeting where SHIELD talked about proper procedures to evacuate civilians. He had insisted that his presence was not necessary. They had managed without him for a few years. Unlike the Avengers, the world didn't even know he existed. However, Captain America gave him such a pleading look that made him feel very unpatriotic if he refused. He wished he had that look when he was ordering interns to do a 24-hour-shift.

He spent the afternoon designing new spells that he drew on papers. He could do them on his new StarkPad as suggested by Stark, apparently a welcome gift for each new member of Avengers, but technology didn't seem to mix well with spells. StarkPad would be much better if it worked if because the software would correct his drawing rather than his childlike drawings because of his hands. Despite the quality, Sophie vibrated with excitement at some of his drawings so he was confident some of these might work without modification. For a sentient cloak, she had very good instinct in magic, better than some of the acolytes.

He felt slightly guilty for not paying attention to the meeting as it involved the lives of civilian. However, whenever he tuned in to listen, SHIELD mostly talked about proper procedures and chains of command rather than actually doing the evacuation. In that case, he didn't feel so bad. Besides, two of the spells theoretically could shield civilians from any physical and magical harm, so he had done his parts.

It was not like the other Avengers were paying attention anyway. Stark seemed to exchange notes with Banner, Barton and Romanov played their own version of Tic Tac Toe, Lang cheered quietly whenever Romanov won whereas Wilson was Team Barton. Thor was conveniently out of this realm. He could actually use that excuse but his address was in New York so it was quite easy for the Avengers to find him. Only Maximoff, Vision, and Cap seemed to pay attention. But he saw that Scarlet Witch and Vision were linking hands under the table-that was kinda sweet in having a crush in your high school sweetheart way. Cap winked knowingly at him whenever he looked up from his papers in case SHIELD noticed that he didn't pay any attention. So Cap actually had the not-so-innocent side that public didn't know about. To be fair to Cap, this was a super boring meeting, he had his share of boring meetings with those surgeons who didn't know the difference between a bullet wound and a puncture wound, but this one took the cake in term of boringness. He was itching to try his new spells once he got back to the safety of the Sanctum.

As soon as the meeting was over and SHIELD personnel left the room, he quickly stood up and headed toward the door. Steve Rogers with his long strides quickly caught up to him.

Rogers clapped him on the shoulder. He was Captain America after all so he knew about the condition of his hands and try not to touch them unless necessary. "Doctor Strange, it was nice of you to make time to attend the meeting in spite of your busy schedule."

He told him the truth. "How could I refuse Captain America? That would be so unpatriotic of me. Besides, it was quite a productive meeting." He winked at Cap and stepped out the meeting room. Two could play this game.

He could hear Stark complaining that Cap never thanked him for attending the meeting which apparently earned him a smack upside the head which most likely came from Black Widow. That woman was scary and he had faced Dormammu.

He quickly walked to the end of the corridor to a broom closet. As he was about to open the door to the closet, he heard the voice that sounded like Stark's calling him. He turned around and it was indeed Stark. "Stark, what do you want?"

"I heard about coming out of the closet. But you took the phrase to the whole new level and direction."

"If you have anything important to say, say it. Otherwise, please get out of my way. And no, I won't discuss my sexual preference especially with _you_."

"Irritable. That's the sign of people who don't get laid. But that's your business unless you want to make it mine." He looked at the sorcerer who was tapping his foot impatiently. "No? Your loss. Anyway, you're a doctor, not that I could ever forget, since you keep reminding us. I have these rashes that won't go away. I asked Brucie but he said I was being dramatic. He said it'd go away eventually. But they haven't. My back has been itching for two days."

Stephen knew he really shouldn't stoop to Stark's level but he couldn't help it. "Have you been checked for STDs? I know having rashes is one of the signs."

"At least I get laid, unlike some people around here. But no, I wouldn't do that to Pepper, it's definitely not an STD."

"I was a neurosurgeon, not a general practitioner."

"Details schmetails. A doctor is still a doctor. Unless of course you don't know how to cure and just like to keep the title. It'd take at most five minutes of your time, top. Then I pinkie promise I won't bother you again, well, at least for today."

The sorcerer knew the billionaire was just baiting him. But it worked. Besides, he missed being a doctor. "Fine, five minutes. Let's find an empty meeting room."

Two minutes later he deducted that the rashes were caused by a combination of a certain brand of whiskey which sounded Russian with prawns. Why it only affected Stark and not the rest of the team was beyond him. He just prescribed a brand of antihistamine to the billionaire.

He was quite proud of himself. He still got his medical skills.

His happiness was quite short-lived because the next day Clint Barton came over to the Sanctum with a broken arm. When he asked why the archer didn't go to a nearby hospital, Barton just shrugged. He said he didn't trust the hospital and he happened to be in the neighborhood. Stephen wondered what business the archer had in his neighborhood but his patient just passed out at his door before he asked the question.

After he sent Clint Barton away in a sling and some painkiller prescription, he somehow had become an unofficial doctor for the Avengers. That was when his problem started.

* * *

In the beginning, most of their ailments were legit, so he really didn't mind to offer some medical advice. In fact, he relished them.

He had helped Ant-Man as apparently shrinking and expanding multiple times in a span of a few seconds could cause vertigo. He suggested a new therapy method he heard from Christine to Rhodes which helped the Colonel immensely. He suggested a new brand of anti motion sickness medicine to Wilson because his new Falcon costume upgraded by Stark had too much wing power.

As the weeks go by, the Avengers' ailment seemed to get very minor and imaginary. Apparently some of the Avengers could be hypochondriacs. _This Earth is doomed!_

Stark went to knock at the Sanctum's door at 5 am. He asked for the cure of his sore back because of his late night with Pepper. When the doctor suggested that it was the risk the billionaire had to take as he should know some positions were not safe for people at his age. Stark took offense in that as he said he was as young as a spring chicken. Besides, the good doctor had to take his mind out of the gutter because he was just playing Twister with Pepper. Stephen wanted to say that he didn't imply sex in any ways or forms, he just said _some positions_ which could be applied to Twister. Besides, why were they playing Twister at night? However, arguing with Stark at 5 am was pointless as he himself hadn't slept properly. It was easier to just prescribe some medicine to Stark and sent him on his merry way.

At the hallway of the new SHIELD headquarter, Nick Fury asked him to enter his office. Why the former director of SHIELD still had an office was above his clearance level. He was more concerned whether he was in trouble. He just sealed a portal in New Zealand to stop flying Tyrexes (don't ask) entering this dimension. Surely, the former director wouldn't reprimand him for that. To his surprise, Fury just asked him whether he knew which brand of eye drop wouldn't cause irritation. Fury said staring at the Avengers, especially Stark, with one eye could be very tiring during meetings. While Stephen could relate to Fury's feeling about Stark, he freaked out why the former director of SHIELD asked for his medical advice instead of the proper physicians at SHIELD. But again, as per usual for dealing with the Avengers, it was easier to give in to what they want so he could return to his responsibility as Master of the Mystic Arts. He texted Christine "what is the best eye drop at the moment?" without adding the part of "staring at the Avengers." While he waited for her reply which seemed like taking forever, he didn't know how to make small talks with Fury. That guy would put Wong's poker face to shame. He opted for silence instead. Ten minutes of awkward silence later, Christine texted back the brand which he quickly relayed to Fury. He left as soon as he could, he nearly tripped himself at the door, but thankfully Sophie was there to pick him up. As he closed the door, he could swear that Nick Fury smirked but it could be the trick of his eyes.

The weirdest Avengers' encounter he has was when Black Widow broke into the Sanctum and waited for him. She gave him quite a fright as he was opening the front door the normal way using keys to find Black Widow sitting on his lounge. He really needed to fix the spells protecting this Sanctum.

"Where have you been? I've waited for the whole thirteen minutes for you."

He tried to stay cool. "Not much. Same old, same old. Sealing one portal or another. What kind I do for you? One more important question, how did you break through my protective spells?"

Black Widow examined her cuticles. "I didn't break into here. Wong let me in. Yes, I have his number. Don't ask how I know."

He was grateful she didn't add "if you want to live" bit. He certainly didn't plan to ask how she knew. He assumed Black Widow could do anything if she put her mind to it. He certainly needed to talk to Wong about who was considered as a proper guest at the Sanctum. "How can I help you?"

"Well, _Doctor_ Strange, I needed your medical advice." He could practically hear her italicizing the doctor part. "I have been having these symptoms."

She described her symptoms which included feeling tired, had trouble sleeping, backache, mood swings, bloating, food cravings and some other symptoms better not to be repeated. She was quite graphic in her description. Lesser men would have turned pink after hearing her statements. Since he was Stephen Strange, _MD_ , _PhD_ , he just opted for awkward silence.

His mind was reeling. How could he tell Black Widow that she was PMS-ing while she was PMS-ing and live? He didn't come back to life after getting killed a thousand times only to be killed by Black Widow. What kind of Master of the Mystic Arts would that made him? He could just imagine Wong's face reading his obituary. In fact, he really needed to talk to Wong as it was the librarian's fault that might get him, Doctor Stephen Strange, killed.

Finally, he did what any reasonable doctor would do. He told Black Widow he was sorry as he didn't know what caused her symptoms. His knowledge of medicine was more likely outdated. Would she mind if he referred her to another doctor? When she said it was OK, he promptly gave her Christine's contact address which he suspected she already knew.

As soon as she left the Sanctum, he breathed a sigh of relief.

* * *

Romanov's visit had been the last straw for him. Since then, he tried to avoid the Avengers all together. He told Christine that they were out to get his sanity.

He just gave some excuses whenever he was invited to another meeting and/or party. Surprisingly the Avengers seemed to have a lot of those.

He put a spell to detect who was at the door so he could screen his visitor. The Avengers seemed to like to visit him for whatever reason. It could be for genuine Avengers' business but he couldn't take the risk. He didn't hear any super villains attack lately so they certainly didn't need his help.

He was hyper aware of his surrounding whenever he was out of the Sanctum in case an Avenger might ambush him with their medical questions. That was the reason of having him opened the portal for 67th time. Not that he was counting.

On one fine morning, the sorcerer was engrossed in reading "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." He certainly could relate to Arthur Dent and his haplessness being thrown into the universe he didn't know. Sophie was sitting at his lap, her collars helped him turned the pages. He told himself he earned the right for a few hours rest after saving the world for so many times in the last few weeks. It seemed the Evil Forces from the other dimensions liked to visit this Earth as often as the Avengers came to seek him for medical advises.

Suddenly there was a knock at his door. He quickly checked who was at the door. It was Captain America. Cap was one of the few Avengers that he could count in one hand who never asked for his medical advice.

Now he was in a conundrum. Should he open the door for Cap? How if suddenly Cap wanted his medical advice for something silly? That would certainly ruin his image for Cap. He didn't want that because he genuinely respected and liked Cap. On the other hand, what if Cap come for an official Avengers' business? Cap hadn't come to visit the Sanctum for seven weeks. In fact, Cap's visit was the event that started all these. Not that it was Cap's fault of course.

He looked at Sophie for guidance. The cloak just made a movement equivalent to a shrug and floated away. _Traitor!_

* * *

-Answers will be in the next chapter. The Avengers were not acting OOC, there will be an explanation why they behaved this way. I was more concerned whether Stephen is OOC here.  
-I must add that there is nothing wrong with PMS. Stephen's reaction was just because he was male so he got nervous.

-Thanks to unknownnobody32 to point out some of the mistakes.

-Feedback and comments are welcome.


	2. Thank you for saving the world!

**Warning:** Unbetaed, also being more serious than the previous chapter.

* * *

Stephen did the most logical thing he could think of. He entered the astral plane (he never said it was a brilliant move). He made his astral body invisible and flew through the front door to check on Steve Rogers. Captain American seemed to be at the peak of good health so it was unlikely he came here just to complain about his non-existent illness. Of course it was not a solid proof because most the Avengers looked healthy until they saw him. Would he want to risk it? From what he'd heard so far, Captain America was always true to his word so he was willing to take a chance.

He returned to his physical body, stood up, opened the door, and feigned surprises. "Captain Rogers, it was nice of you to drop by. Please come in."

Steve smiled brightly as he stepped through the door. "As I've always insisted, please call me Steve. It's good to see you too. I thought you were not willing to see the Avengers."

He tried his best to look affronted. "What gave you the impression?" He really didn't want to recount the numerous times the Avengers tried to confront him. It'd make him look paranoid. "Tea?" he offered his guest as they were seated in the lounge. Well, the room might initially be intended for another use but for now he would treat it as the lounge.

"Yes, please, milk and no sugar."

He teleported the cups from the kitchen and filled it with tea automatically. Actually he had brewed the tea this morning and just transferred the content to the cups via magic to make it look like that the tea appeared out of thin air.

Steve Rogers seemed to be in awe of that. "I'm never used to this twenty first century. First, aliens are real. Then there were killer robots and evil artificial intelligence. Now, even magic is real." Steve sipped his tea and nodded appreciatively.

Stephen released a breath that he didn't realize he had been holding. "Actually magic has always been around. We were just not aware of it. Even _I_ was just made aware of it recently."

"Oh yes, you're actually quite new in this superheroes world. How does it feel?"

He fidgeted. "I don't think of myself as a superhero. I don't have any superstrength, superspeed, or super something. I'm just a human who has these skills by learning. Everyone could do that."

Steve smiled. "I could assure you that not every could. Not everyone has the patience. Could you imagine Tony Stark learning spells? Or Bruce Banner? Well, Bruce might have the patience but he might set Hulk off accidentally."

They both shuddered.

"Well, to be fair to Stark, he created a lot of experiments so he has the patience. It's just his mind refuses to believe in magic."

Steve looked him up and down. "I thought you'd say something different. I heard you were quite arrogant. Not that I mind about it personally. I'm so used to Tony so anyone who could snark back at Tony is fine by me."

Stephen felt his cheeks getting warm. "Oh, I can assure you I'm still arrogant. Wong and Christine have been telling me about that constantly. I just try to tone it down when I remember. "

"Is that because I'm Captain America so you don't want to make yourself look bad?"

His cheeks were definitely warm now. He merely nodded.

Steve laughed. "I don't know that I'm that scary."

"No, it's not that. You've been my childhood hero. It's not everyday people gets to meet their childhood hero. The way you sacrificed yourself to save the northern hemisphere left quite a deep impression for me. To finally hear you were back to life was quite something."

"Hmm, I get that a lot. I can assure you I'm just a regular guy."

"Yes, with superhealing, superstrength and quite impressive range of skills. I heard you have an eidetic memory as well." He chided himself as he couldn't stop being a fanboy.

"Stephen, all those powers don't matter. A man told me once the important thing is to always be a good man. All those powers are secondary. You're not so bad yourself. I heard what you did in Hong Kong and the way you defeated Dormammu was impressive. Not everyone could think of that method—suffering for eternity for a greater good. That's definitely the sign of a hero. And you have all those powers, even they are by learning, so you're still a superhero in my book."

Stephen remembered all the patients he rejected because they wouldn't bring him fame and fortune. He also remembered what The Ancient One told him in her dying breath. "Uh, yes, I haven't always been like that. I'm ashamed to admit that I'd still be a selfish person if it were not because of my accident. Even then I was still selfish until my teacher told me that it was not about me in her dying breath."

Steve raised his cup. "To our dying mentors." He felt a heavy lump in his throat as they toasted. "To our dying mentors."

Steve cleared his throat. "Doctor Strange, I know you still carry a lot of guilt for what you did in the past. Although it sounds heartless, but you never harm anyone on purpose so you were never a bad person, just might not be the nicest one. Even some of the Avengers don't have the brightest past. What's important is what you would do with the powers you have now. I think you've gone down the right path. Besides, I heard that you still try to keep the Hippocratic Oath. It's quite impressive by itself, not every hero tries not to harm his or her enemy."

The sorcerer was left speechless. Not everyone got complimented by their childhood hero. After a few seconds, he regained his power of speech. "Thanks, coming from you, it means a lot to me."

"You're most welcome. You're a good man. That's the most important thing. All these powers are secondary as they could come and go. Did you know you were on HYDRA's hit list even before you became a sorcerer? I was quite impressed with that. That's why your name sounded familiar when I heard you have powers."

He used to brag that not everyone was in HYDRA's hit list before the accident. After the accident, that fact was not so important anymore so he nearly forgot about it. Now his personal savior, not only in the sense of his childhood hero but also in the sense that he truly saved his life personally, appeared right in front of him. He stood up and hugged a surprised Captain America who hugged back. "Thank you for saving my life. I didn't mean to be ungrateful but I've forgotten about it after my accident." He released the hug before it became awkward. He could hear Steve Rogers' sigh of relief.

"You're most welcome. Thanks for saving this world from Dormammu. I think we should stop thanking each other as it could go on all day. To be honest, I've forgotten about it as well. It just suddenly clicked when I was talking just now."

Stephen returned back to his seat. "I presume you don't all the way up here for a pep talk. And I presume you don't come here to ask my medical advice. Why do you come here?"

"Why would I ask you for any medical advice?" Suddenly, he smiled. "Oh, I got it now. Is that the reason you have been avoiding the Avengers? I come here to ask you why but I know now. I apologize for my team mates' behaviors. They could be so childish sometime and they have carried out the pranks for too long."

It was his turn not to able to make heads or tails of what happened. "What pranks?"

"Well, it started with Tony as most of our disasters always are. He complained that you always insisted to be called a doctor in any instances. So they wanted to remind you that fact whenever they see you."

"But I'm a Doctor, I have a PhD and a MD."

"I know. But some of the team members don't see it that way. They think you're very arrogant. I reminded Tony that even he is still arrogant _now_. But once they set their mind on something, they'd execute it. I tried to stop them but I could barely control their behaviors. They only listen to me when I give them commands in battles. They even still make fun of me for chiding them about their language. Only Bruce saw my way and didn't want to have anything to do with these pranks. And Thor is still out of this realm."

No wonder he never saw Bruce and Steve lately. "Do you mean all the Avengers, except you and Bruce, were faking their illnesses? So I wasn't paranoid but I was right all along." He could finally relax and smile. "I'll definitely tell Christine about that. But how did Barton fake his broken hand?"

"Yes, you were right. You were never being paranoid. I apologize on their behalf. As for Barton, he planned to prank you but I think he really broke his arm accidentally. Yes, he is accident prone." He nodded grimly.

The sorcerer grinned. "Oh, don't need to be sorry. It wasn't your fault. I'm always glad when I'm right. So it wasn't paranoia all along." He then sobered up. "Even Black Widow?"

"I'm afraid Nat was in for the prank. What did she do?"

He told him what happened when Black Widow visited.

Steve grinned. "I think what you did was wise. Someone less wise might have ended up strangled in between her thighs. I know someone in our team has. I'll give her props for her ingenuity."

"Yes, that definitely is the scariest and the reason I avoided the Avengers. She should prank Wong sometime. How about Nick Fury? I don't think he was involved in the Avengers' prank, wasn't he?"

He told him what happened with Fury.

"Nick Fury doesn't do pranks. I think he must've heard about the pranks. That man knows everything. I guessed he wanted to test your mental strength. I was puzzled when he told me one day that I was right in recruiting you, you have a steely resolve that not every SHIELD agent possesses. Everything makes sense now. Once again, I apologize for the inconvenience."

"It really is nothing after I know they've been pranks all along. Perhaps I can ask them to call me Stephen unless I introduce myself to some strangers."

"That's really big of you. As I said, as long as you are a good man, I really don't care how you address yourself. I'll have words with them as I believe they've gone too far. I hope you don't run away from us now."

"I certainly won't as I know now. I'm really OK with them. They were excellent pranks."

"I still believe they owe you an apology. I must take my leave now. Thanks for the tea." He rose after he spoke.

"You're most welcome. And please call me Stephen." He refrained himself from saying "Please drop by anytime" as he had been behaving like a silly fanboy this whole time.

"Bye, Stephen."

* * *

In the evening, he got a gift basket.

The delivery guy asked, "Are you a big shot or something to get a basket from the Avengers? "

He grinned. "Something like that. I'm their doctor."

"Huh? Wouldn't peg you as a doctor with that robe. That cloak is impressive though. Not everyone could rock that look."

Stephen could feel Sophie shake with excitement at the compliment. He signed the card, thanked the guy, and closed the door.

He chuckled as he read the card. It read "We're really sorry. Please don't be mad and send us to another dimension. We don't want to be their aliens."

He looked at the basket. It contained assortments of gifts: A bottle of red wine, a bottle of white wine, three new StarkPhones and StarkPads, the complete set of DVDs for _Harry Potter_ movies (he had the inkling this must be from Tony), also a complete set of movies titled _Lord of The Rings_ , _The Hobbit_ , and the complete four seasons of _Sherlock_. Christine kept teasing him that he looked like that guy who played Sherlock and he also sounded like that dragon Smaug. Perhaps some of the Avengers also thought the same. Wong and Christine would be pleased with these gifts.

Who knew insisting to be called a Doctor would be so productive?

* * *

 **Notes:**

-Yeah, I expected this story to be more cracky but with Steve Rogers, things somehow become more sensible and serious.  
I mean he's sensible, not sure about this story :)  
-Strange might be OOC here but somehow I think he would try to be humble in front of his childhood hero. Scott Derrickson did say that Stephen admired Captain America.

-Thanks to **IHeartGrimm81** for pointing out a mistake.  
-Feedback and comments are welcome.


End file.
